“Oil trade for Dany still alive” proclaims the Ottawa Sun, “but it could be slammed shut soon”.

Why (or perhaps "for the love of all that is good and holy why can't this be over already"), you ask ? Because, according to journalist Chris Stevenson, “an NHL source indicated yesterday the Oilers' patience is wearing thin to have Heatley agree to a deal and they could give up and move on perhaps as early as today.”

No doubt this would be welcome news to some – even many – Oilers fans, but I wouldn’t get too excited about it just yet, because of a Dan Barnes articlewe talked about a few days ago. Quoting Barnes:

The source also said the Oilers had not imposed an internal deadline for a firm resolution of this ridiculously untenable situation. Nor had they communicated such an ultimatum to the Senators or Heatley. That rumour had been floated last week by a TV analyst and at least one Internet site.
"Could be a week, could be a month," said the source.

That was three days ago.

So, when two anonymous league sources are reported as saying two conflicting things, which is to be believed? It’s up to everyone individually of course, but given that it’s an Edmonton rumour I think it would be foolish not to trust the Edmonton-based (and Edmonton-connected) reporter on this one. It’s possible that the situation has drastically shifted over those three days, but Barnes’ source seems to rule out a sudden shift like that – certainly not one that would see the Oilers abandon the pursuit a few days later (“possibly as early as today”, according to Stevenson).

Stevenson also includes this factoid:

Rumours are there are at least two other teams which have recently held discussions with Senators GM Bryan Murray but have only offered bloated contracts and underachieving players in return.

Dan Barnes also mentioned two teams, so we can view this information as probably true. Barnes said they hadn’t finalized an offer, while Stevenson says that they aren’t offering much of value – which sounds to me like two different ways of saying the same thing.

The last part of Stevenson’s piece that I’d like to look at is not to criticize him, but just to highlight the difficulty of sorting through rumours in general. Here’s the quote:

Speculation is the Minnesota Wild remains a team looking for an offensive addition and the Columbus Blue Jackets have been named in connection with the unhappy winger.

Stevenson is careful to couch all of his paragraphs so that it’s clear he’s passing along speculation, and in this case we can be fairly certain that the speculation is inaccurate, because of what Columbus GM Scott Howson said to Dan Tencer a few days ago:

"We're not involved in that scene. It's an unfortunate situation for everybody involved."

In other words, for better and worse, I continue to believe that the Oilers are ardent in their pursuit of Heatley, despite today’s conflicting report from Stevenson.

Jonathan Willis is a freelance writer.
He currently works for Oilers Nation, Sportsnet and Bleacher Report.
He's co-written three books and worked for myriad websites, including the Edmonton Journal, Grantland, ESPN, The Score, and Hockey Prospectus. He was previously the founder and managing editor of Copper & Blue.

Thanks JW, my hopes for this to end have been shattered. Wouldn't it be nice if nothing was ever writen about this situation until it ends, only in a perfect world I guess. That would be pretty sweet if suddenly Tambo announced a nice trade or a UFA signing to put this s**t to rest.

As much as I would still LOVE to see him here, I too am tired of the soap opera.

Simon Gagne's name has been tossed around the blogosphere, any chance he'd be available?

The optimist in me would still like to think when Lowe and Tambo met with Heatley in Kelowna, he told them some things that led them to wait this long. Not sure what exactly though, I guess I'm trying to justify to myself why they wouldn't have told him to go pound sand on July 2nd.

I wonder if GM's are thinking (not conspiring) that they are not going to trade for Heatley due to the circumstances surrounding this player, and he hasn't clued in yet that he doesn't have a lot of options..

@ jayoilfan:
There's been a hanful or articles not about Heatley in the last few days.

Hasn't Howson denied this many times? The CBJ rumor was started by you-know-who and both Stauffer and Robin shot it down immediately.
I still can't decide if I want Heater or not. I do like death marches, Cogs and our team dignity, but I also like Heatley's goals.

As a fan that is more interested in the long term health of the Oilers organization I hope the team can acquire a happy Heatley or no one at all.

Worst case senario the oil play the young front 6 and hope someone plays well enough to increase their trade value and then make a moves that dont make the oils contracts look so heavy. Penner, Cogs, Gagner, Nilson or even Brule or Schremp could do some good things given the chance to. They didnt last year but they are still very young. Once they show some value ship them out and aquire a dangerous first line that can score.

I know I will get critisized for saying this; but Ottawa built a first line and played damn well for several years. I would rather loose in the playoffs then not make them at all.

I think we need to give this guy a deadline, the Oilers are starting to look like a second rate team waiting on every word from the Heatley camp. Grab a set of balls and tell this guy it's either yes or no. If yes great if no atleast we can move on and try differnt things, this is getting out of hand

This Heatley thing is getting worse than the Sundin fiasco, what happened to players that just want to play hockey?

I used to think Ryan Smyth would play hockey for free, just because he loved it so much, but then he refused to sign a deal over $100K. Luckily I had already become completely disillusioned by the Oilers selling Gretzky that I was not even really surprised or disappointed when Smytty decided to go for the dough.

Give me the Steve MacIntyre's of the world any day (just happy to be realizing a dream)**.

**Note: this is not a good way to build a winning hockey team, but it makes for a happier story.

The Oilers need to impose a deadline. They need to proceed without Heatley and make some other changes. The uncertainty has to be impacting Penner, Cogs and Smid in a negative way.

I would love Tambellini to come out and say "This matter has gone on long enough. Ottawa and Mr Heatley have until noon Friday July 17 to accept our offer or we will consider the matter closed. While we respect Mr Heatley for his desire to do what he sees as right for himself and his family, and while we would like to see him as part of team, the continuing uncertainty is not fair to our players, their families, our organization, or our fans. We must move on and will do so after July 17 should our terms no be met."

A lot can change. I know Ek is Ek, but his post the other day about the teams interested in Heatley, even if only accurate, could be something that people are starting to hear as true. If so, the Oilers need to post a deadline to have any shot at Heatley. The minute an acceptable offer gets tabled from another team, Heatley will go there.

I also believe that it is realsitic to think a trade is out there for Tambo to get another LW. Those trades will only last so long and its probably with a team that needs to clear cap space. If so, they... unlike the Oilers won't wait forever to make whatever moves they need to.

I think we need to give this guy a deadline, the Oilers are starting to look like a second rate team waiting on every word from the Heatley camp. Grab a set of balls and tell this guy it’s either yes or no. If yes great if no atleast we can move on and try differnt things, this is getting out of hand

To be fair, it doesn't seem like the Oilers are doing this, as much as Oilers fans and Oilers media are doing this.

I'm hoping there is a deadline, if only for the players' named who, frankly, deserve better than to have this uncertainty hang over their summer. This organization better start coming to grips with the fact that our best shot at building a contender is going with guys on entry level contracts. Build a core around guys like Cogliano, the same way previous cores were built here around young and still hungry guys. Allow them to grow together and don't play it cheap when the time comes to ante up. Hopefully by that time those players will have formed enough ties with the community and their teammates that they will want to stay. For the love of god Tambo STOP pretending (as Lowe has for too long) that we're the New York Rangers when it comes to every overpriced big name guy that becomes available.

You might as well be referencing the Queen of Jordan. With respect to the Heatley situation alone (forget his sterling 0.0014% accuracy with everything else), he's consistently been proved wrong from the outset. What does it take before people realize he's a complete waste of time?

oilersinsider wrote:
I know Ek is Ek
You might as well be referencing the Queen of Jordan. With respect to the Heatley situation alone (forget his sterling 0.0014% accuracy with everything else), he’s consistently been proved wrong from the outset. What does it take before people realize he’s a complete waste of time?

I'm one that would still like to see Heatley in Edmonton. Yet I do think that Tambo needs to make a deadline to him and Ottawa OR make another deal if it is presented (eg. Simon Gagne). As a matter of fact, I would actually prefer Gagne over Heatley.

In any case, a decision needs to be made and if its not then we move on.

in my opinion, the only mistake that has happened here is that this went public. Talking to a NHL scout buddy of mine, GM's are making offers every week, sometimes a number of offers a week. But if they don't go public, then there's no drama.

Lets say this whole thing never went public. Heatley responds the exact same way and it takes us until September, but we make the trade for him. Heatley keeps his former reputation and Tambellini becomes a god in Oil Country.

I bet there have been a number of trades that have gone down with the player balking at coming for a few months, but it's all kept quiet. The player shows up at his new team and tells the media how excited he is to be there, and nobody is the wiser.

I still say we keep chasing this guy. It's obvious we have too many contracts, especially for small, fast, young play makers. There's only so many spots for this kind of player. We haven't had a sniper in forever.

I can't count the times on the PP that they would have Hemsky feed a cross ice pass to Horcoff for the one timer. I remember Horcoff scoring on that feed twice. How many more times do you think Heatley could bury that one?

Yeah, Heatley is a prick. There's tonnes of star athlete prick's out there. I grew up playing football with the biggest prick I ever met, but he was an unbelievable athelete. He goes and wins the super bowl last year, and I'm here writing in a blog.

I would still bring this prick to my team in a second, and I wouldn't impose a deadline to do it. Yeah, it screws up plan B's, but this guy's skill is worth it.

The Oilers need to impose a deadline. They need to proceed without Heatley and make some other changes. The uncertainty has to be impacting Penner, Cogs and Smid in a negative way.
I would love Tambellini to come out and say “This matter has gone on long enough. Ottawa and Mr Heatley have until noon Friday July 17 to accept our offer or we will consider the matter closed. While we respect Mr Heatley for his desire to do what he sees as right for himself and his family, and while we would like to see him as part of team, the continuing uncertainty is not fair to our players, their families, our organization, or our fans. We must move on and will do so after July 17 should our terms no be met.”

Why force Heatley to publicly reject Edmonton? If a drop dead date is to be set on the deal, it should be done in private.

I agree with the comments in regards to this situation wearing on Smid, Cogs and Penner. It's one thing to hear your name mentioned in a trade rumor that doesn't pan out. As mentioned here and in various other places, that's part of being a professional in any sport and I'm sure these guys could handle that type of thing.

But to have your name mentioned and then left hanging for several weeks during the one time of the year when they can relax and have fun??? I don't care how much they make, that to me is unfair, and it's unreasonable to expect that such treatment won't have a negative effect on their play next year and / or their feelings and loyalty towards the Oilers. Nobody wants to be treated that way and nobody wants their teammates to be treated that way.

Don't understand why Tambo is wasting his time. Heatley clearly does not want to play here. Sure it would be nice to have a pure goal scorer, something we haven't had for close to a decade or longer, but at what cost? Sure, all it would take for fans to forget about this gong show is a couple two goal games and a 5 game point steak. It's a guarentee if Heatley comes, he changes this team over nite. We score, we get goal-tending. We make the playoffs. No brainer. I'm just questioning whether the Oilers can afford all the baggage that comes with this guy. Ask yourself, is it worth it?

I’m hoping there is a deadline, if only for the players’ named who, frankly, deserve better than to have this uncertainty hang over their summer.

Chaz wrote:

I agree with the comments in regards to this situation wearing on Smid, Cogs and Penner.

There are some pretty big assumptions here, the main one being that these three players are still in play. While it is true that nothing has been made public to the contrary, Ottawa's GM Bryan Murray was pretty plain when quoted July 2nd:

"It's different now. I don't know whether we will continue or not. I will talk (to Edmonton GM) Steve Tambellini again. Very definitely, it's not the same deal as it was (Wednesday)."

So is it the same deal after all just because Murray may not have a lot of options? Or does Murray have the balls to bring Heater back to the rink and staple his ass to the bench if his attitude doesn't improve, weathering the storm of public opinion in the interim and praying it's not his job on the line as a result?

I don't have the answers, but I'm just pointing out that Smid and/or Cogs and/or Penner may have already been told privately that they're not going to Ottawa. After all, they've been pretty quiet about the whole thing, neh?

@ Chaz:
Agreed Chaz. Hoe does this affect their play next year? I am thinking big time.

These guys are professionals, if anything this should light a fire under their respective A$$es to show Tambo the mistake he made trying to trade them. Coming into camp sulking, pouting and not giving 100% is going to spoil any future deals and lower their values when it comes to future contracts. This is the business side of hockey, trades happen or fall apart all the time, as someone else said the only thing that went wrong here is that the names were leaked before the deal was done. To me the Oilers should be asking the NHL to investigate the leak becuase if it came from the Senators or the Heatley camp that certainly seems like tampering to me.

@ Ducey:
While I want to see this conclude, a deadline will only work in Heatley's favour. If the oiler offer is off the table, the Sens will be forced to trade him for a lesser package as there is really no way in hell they will bring him back.

As much as it sucks for them (Penner, Smid & Cogs) Tambellini isn't going to set a deadline to make things easier on them IMO. Their names were unfortunately released and theres nothing Tambo can do about that now, feelings may have been hurt but so goes the NHL. They should be preparing to impress whichever coach/team they end up with when training camp begins. Also, not one of those three have really said anything about it besides Gagner mentioning that Cogs was uneasy. How does anyone really know that they don't want to go to Ottawa.

Tambo really has no reason to give Heatly a deadline does he?? We may have to make a new deal anyway if he does agree to play here. The only reason to give him a deadline would be if we had another trade in place with another team. Why not leave the option to Heatley on the table and work some other possibilities, then if all else fails, maybe just maybe we end up with Heater.

@ BigE57:
You would think that most of these guys ARE in fact Professionals, yet time in time again, we see the opposite. I concur that one SHOULD take a situation such as this as a wakeup call and bust their collective arses come training camp. Smid and Cogs should be fine. On the other hand, history shows us that Penner may not do quite as well. I forsee a fair bit of sulking and pouting from him. Guess time will tell. Hope I am wrong.

To me the Oilers should be asking the NHL to investigate the leak becuase if it came from the Senators or the Heatley camp that certainly seems like tampering to me.

As long as the Oilers think they have a sniff of dealing with Ottawa, regardless of what the final package might look like, they are going to play nicey-nice. At the point, however,that Heater gets traded to the Wild (a divisional rival)for a first-rounder and a bag of pucks, you watch how fast the Oilers ask for an investigation then. Assuming, of course, that the leak wasn't from them, though I can't see how it would have benefitted the Oilers in any way for the press to have known about the trade in advance.

Build a core around guys like Cogliano, the same way previous cores were built here around young and still hungry guys.

We can build a core around guys like this, but then the best results we can hope for are results like we have had since '94. 2006 was an exception, because we had a Heatley-calibre player (Human Rake) and we we greatly over-achieved. I would like to take a gamble and have a superstar to build around, even if it is only for 1-2 seasons!

If the oiler offer is off the table, the Sens will be forced to trade him for a lesser package

I can see it all now. The Oilers rescind their offer, make another trade for someone not as skilled but still a decent player (like we already have), Ottawa is basically forced to trade Heatley for the proverbial bag of pucks and Oilers fans will be crying that Tambellini mishandled the situation, leaving us with nothing yet again. Sheesh.
I say wait them out at this point. I honestly think this current team will come to camp with new energy and the desire to please the new coaching staff. If they can stay middle of the pack and make it into the playoffs then I'm happy.

Ottawa is basically forced to trade Heatley for the proverbial bag of pucks

Heatley isn't going anywhere for a bag of pucks. The whole reason we're in this mess was because no team besides the Oilers offered Murray more than a bag of pucks.

Ender the Dragon wrote:

At the point, however,that Heater gets traded to the Wild (a divisional rival)for a first-rounder and a bag of pucks...

Despite having already addressed the 'bag of pucks' statement, this scenario is even more inane. The Wild are closer than us to the cap and just signed a pricey LW in Havlat. No chance.

This situation stays as is until Heatley okays the deal to Edmonton, a team with cap room coughs up enough talent, or Murray forces the Heater to stay. I've been expecting that last outcome from the moment the Heatley request hit the 'sphere.

I think this has become more of a gong show than it needed to be. I would suggest that if Heatley goes elsewhere and we cry foul, we look like the sore losers that just couldn't get that superstar we've been after for years. We have a bad rap as it is in the NHL as a place that no one wants to play in. I think we take this deal off the table, sign a lesser yet great UFA and call it a day. I also suggest that Edmonton needs to grow from drafting. We need to grow this organization around some young, talented kids. Yes, that will take some time, but in the end, we'll have a team that actually wants to play here!

Why force Heatley to publicly reject Edmonton? If a drop dead date is to be set on the deal, it should be done in private.

My suggestion would be that he doesn't have to do anything. He can say yes, say no or say nothing. Doing nothing (his current M.O.) is not fair to those impacted by the deal.

By going public it puts more pressure on the Sens and Heatley to resolve the matter now. If the Oilers say it publically it is going to be harder for them to go back on it and this in turn will make it harder for Heatley to say no as may not have other options. The Sens and Heatley will also have the media all over them. With the public knowing about the deadline and focussing on Dany, he has to know he is going to be further criticised and thereby further reduce his options.

It also sends a clear message to the fans and the players that the Oilers are not going to wait at the alter forever; Heatley is not going to determine the season and the Oilers will move on to make other changes.

A public deadline will help rescue the Oilers from the strange situation they have found themselves in. Going after Heatley is one thing. Doing it at the loss of respect from your players and fans is another.

@ Guv:
Lowe learned from Slats, so its no surprise with all the contract mess and swinging for a home run style of management that has turned the oilers into a poorly run franchise while watching common sense go by the wayside. Since when are ex-jocks sound business people? They should have cleaned house, kept Howson and also had a chance to hire Hitchcock a couple of years ago and missed the boat.